Interview with CTDI on their Climate Transformation

We are excited to work together with CTDI to advance climate transformation. Can you please introduce yourselves?

The technologies we handle include access and transmission network equipment, all mobile technologies, set-top boxes, gateways, mobile devices, entertainment electronics, money and payment systems, industrial scanners, and printers.

How do you address climate in your business model?

Repair instead of throwing away – through our sustainable services, we help our customers reduce their own and global CO2e footprint. With “CTDI Planet Protect,” we aim to take this to the next level. We optimize our business processes to better support the circular economy. We also ensure that everyone takes responsibility for environmental protection within their daily work processes.

What are your climate goals?

We want to contribute to reducing CO2e emissions and conserving natural resources both as a company and through our services and technical developments. Therefore, we have aligned our climate goals with the Science Based Targets and aim to achieve a 100% reduction of Scope 1+2 emissions at all of our European locations by 2028. By 2030, we aim to reduce our Scope 3 CO2e emissions by 50%.

We conducted the Climate Performance Assessment together. What was your motivation for this?

What are the most important learnings you have gained? What are the next steps?

An important learning is that our “Planet Protect” strategy still has potential for improvement. One of the most important findings is the need for third-party auditing. We want to focus on this aspect in the coming years and possibly acquire a certified CO2e accounting software.

How do you deal with your supply chain and the resulting emissions?

We are in the process of demanding emissions from all of our logistics service providers. New contract partners will only be accepted if they support our “CTDI Planet Protect” goals. In the area of shipping, we already use CO2e-neutral logistics service providers in almost all areas.

What are best practices you want to share with other organizations?

Communication with all employees is the key to success for a successful implementation of environmental goals.

Thanks for the interview Jochen Bolzhauser, we are happy to drive climate transformation together!

Do you want to make your company a Climate Champion? Register now within 5 minutes on our Climate Intelligence Platform and complete your free Climate Readiness Check.

10 Steps to put Supplier Engagement into Climate Action for 1.5°C target

To achieve the 1.5°C ambition of the Paris Climate Agreement, business action across the full value chain is crucial. More and more leading brands are joining forces in action groups to tackle this challenge, such as the “1.5 Supply Chain Leaders” founded by the Exponential Roadmap Initiative.

The NGO brings together innovators, transformers and disruptors taking action in line with the 1.5°C ambition. Their common mission is to halve global greenhouse gas emissions before 2030 through exponential climate action and solutions.

In CHOICE Event #56 we learned from Laure Pérez Casado, Project Lead at Exponential Roadmap Initiative, how to engage suppliers for climate actions. Find here the most important 10 steps.

1. Set your foundation

It all starts with a strong foundation. Starting a supplier engagement program for decarbonization, needs to have a clear set up first. Therefore, companies need to start with their own journey before they can reach out to their business partners. As first step: Make your climate commitment public, set a target and include your supply chain, assess your emissions and be clear about your priorities about actions and solutions you want to implement in your own transition. Aim high: Cutting emissions halve until 2023 is inline with the Paris-1,5°-target.

2. Accept the ambiguous status quo

Even within the own company, targets, strategies, incentives and requirements can differ quite a lot. Typically, sustainability and procurement office need to align first to assure a successful program outcome. Form your #TeamClimate and ask yourself: Why do we need a program – for reporting, buying decisions or actions? What can be done? Which outcome is anticipated? Who needs to be involved? When can we start?

3. Be simple!

Often company leaders want to get everything done in one step. That is us humans, we like simple solutions. But honestly, simplicity needs to stay simple. If you start with a too complex system right from the beginning, frustration levels can be very high – on all sides. Do yourself a favour by asking simple questions first. Such as: Have you set climate targets? Did you calculate your emissions and which kind of climate actions are you planning to implement?

4. Focus on your hotspots in the supply chain

Great! You have set climate targets, aligned with your company internal action team – and know which data points you want to collect and how you want to roll out the program. Now is the time to find a simple way, to pre-screen your supply chain. Many companies work with third party data, databases and / or a spend-based approach to have a first understanding of the status quo of their value chain. This way, you can cluster suppliers into areas of strategic importance and find hotspot, on which you can should focus. The Climate Intelligence Platform offers a fast and simple way to start screening your supplier base and kick-off your Supplier Climate Engagement Program – start today and create a free account.

5. Clarify data needs for sustainability and procurement

Last, but not least, before you reach out to your supply chain: Get on the same page. Make sure (again) that your internal stakeholders are all aligned. Is everyone onboarded in your #TeamClimate? Your sustainability and procurement team will mostly likely work with the collected data and have certain expectations of the results you are aiming for. As you very likely have already iterated the process, align on the data, processes and next steps. Just to be sure.

6. Set up the process: procurement or sustainability team?

Now, it is time to get started. Most companies have the supplier engagement program organized by the procurement team, but need the sustainability team to provide insights and a clear message that is published regarding your supply chain climate target. This allows procurement to address suppliers in collaboration with your #TeamClimate and supports the credibility of the program.

7. Start engaging supplier by stressing the “why”!

Your moment to shine! You go out and communicate with your suppliers. This is not a one-way conversation. Invite for collaboration, share knowledge and resources and provide guidance through your anticipated journey. Most important: Provide incentives to get suppliers on board. Take away the fear of being rated top-down and instead share benefits for suppliers that are supporting your climate initiative. Find out more in the CHOICE Event “How to Qualify, Assess and Develop Suppliers for Scope 3 Decarbonization“.

8. Don’t overwhelm, stay simple!

Be aware that climate management can be frustrating. You might have suffered along the way, too. Just because you are now further ahead, does not mean your suppliers are there yet. Get them onboard and be open for feedback, together you can improve. We are all in this journey together and face a transition to a low carbon economy that will take until at least 2050. Many opportunities will come along the way. Get your business partners engaged and motivated.

9. Dare to take decisions

Nevertheless, the goal is clear. Cutting emissions, building up skills for a structured transformation and gaining insights on the climate maturity of your suppliers. This means, the moment you have gathered information, received feedback and have finalised your data integration, you have to take decisions. Data is there to be used! Not to be gathered only. Make sure you gain insights for decision making from it. You need to define a baseline from which you started and plan next steps that bring you and your suppliers closer towards Net Zero. Decisions that need to be taken: How do you provide climate knowledge to suppliers? How do you share best practices and benchmarks? How do you define supplier requirements and collaborate on taking action? Find out “How to generate Value from Supplier Climate Data” in this CHOICE Event.

10. Report and repeat

Finally, you also need to celebrate your success! It is great that you tackle the biggest challenge of the corporate world today: the climate transformation and decrabonization of your supply chain. Acknowledge that this is the only valid way to decrease emissions in a meaningful way – in Scope 3, where up to 90% and more of the total corporate emissions come from. Companies cannot reach Net Zero emissions over night. And focusing only on Scope 1 and 2 emissions, does not at all support the full requirements and climate targets. You and your #TeamClimate started an awesome journey that is highly influencing the financial, social and environmental impact of your company. Now, be transparent about what you achieved (and what not). Share within your company and externally. You took the first step, talk about it and share your learnings. You will repeat the process next year, so it’s the best time to get into the improvements and actions with suppliers.

You want to start you simple and scalable supply chain deacarbonization journey?

You can now start your own supplier screening and evaluation process by creating a free account on the Climate Intelligence Platform, which streamlines and automates the workflows to save your company time and money. Within the free basic account you can invite an unlimited number of your suppliers and start your supply chain transformation journey towards Net Zero. Get started today with a free account!

Measuring and Understanding your Scope 3 Emissions

For most companies, the majority of their greenhouse gas emissions (up to 90 %) lie in their supply chains – so-called Scope 3. Reducing those Scope 3 emissions provides the biggest lever for corporate climate transformation, but it is also by far the most difficult. The first step and basic requirement is to measure and holistically understand the company’s Scope 3 emissions.

That’s what we learned at the CHOICE Event #55 from Richard Scholz from the WifOR Institute and Yasha Tarani from The Climate Choice. Here you will find the most important insights from their joint presentation.

Scope 3 Reporting Becomes Mandatory under CSRD

Companies worldwide are facing increasing pressure from stakeholders and regulations to meet their climate targets. Of particular importance is Scope 3, as defined by the GHG Protocol, which, in contrast to Scopes 1 and 2, includes all upstream and downstream emissions along a company’s supply chain. This new importance of Scope 3 is, among other things, becoming apparent in the fact that Scope 3 reporting becomes mandatory under the upcoming EU wide Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

From 2025 onwards, companies in Europe meeting two of the following three conditions will have to comply with the CSRD and thus report scope 3 emissions:

• €40 million in net turnover
• €20 million in assets
• 250 or more employees

In addition, non-EU companies that have a turnover of above €150 million in the EU will also have to comply. 

Different methods of measuring Scope 3 emissions

With this in mind, we are going to have a look at how exactly companies can go about to tackle their Scope 3 emissions. The first step is definitely to measure the emissions from their supply chain. For this, the GHG Protocol suggests to use different calculation methods, depending on the availability of data. 

As shown in this graphic, you can use either supplier-specific data or secondary data (i.e., industry average data). The different methods are sorted according to their specificity. The best calculation method is by far the supplier specific method on top. However, if you have not done a calculation yet, starting at the bottom of the method sorting is the recommended approach. The so-called spend-based method uses average data points.

The spend-based method of measuring Scope 3 emissions 

The starting point of a spend-based method is the purchase list, also referred to as your spend file or order placements. It should include all goods and services purchased by your company. Three information are of particular importance here:

• Which kind of products/services are bought?
• Where are those products/services produced?
• How much of those products is bought?

To understand this better, let’s have a look at a concrete example. We assume that our chemical products purchased from the USA are worth 300,000 €. So we know the type of product, the country of origin and the amount of products purchased. After those basic observations, we now look at model data. In the model data, we find out how much revenue the chemical industry in the USA has and also how much CO2 emissions the chemical industry in the USA is emitting. With this information, we can now attribute a certain certain of CO2 emissions to the revenue of the chemical products that our company bought.

Adding Tier 2 and 3 emissions of suppliers of suppliers

However, with this first step, the process of measuring Scope 3 emissions is not concluded yet, as the results only represent the Scope 1 emissions of the suppliers. In order to also calculate the tier 2 and 3 emissions of suppliers of your suppliers and so on, you will need an additional purchase list from the chemical industry of the US – so-called model data.

Now we look at each and every purchase item that the chemical industrie of the US is buying. And we attribute a certain amount of CO2 emissions from those other industries across the whole world that the US chemical industry is buying from. That for example also includes the Scope 2 emissions of the US chemical industry, because they are buying electricity. You need to repeat this process with a list of the tier 3 suppliers, so the emissions caused by suppliers of tier 2 suppliers.

Moving the ladder all the way up to the supplier-specific method

The spend-based method is a good starting point to get a first impression of the emissions of your supply chain. However, the goal should always be to move up the ladder as quickly as possible from average data to deeper and more specific climate information of your suppliers. This is where specialized software tools like the Climate Intelligence Platform come into play.

The Climate Intelligence Platform provides a way to efficiently automate the various steps of the supplier-specific method for Scope 3 decarbonization. Companies receive everything they need to set up, test, manage and achieve their supplier climate engagement targets – from data acquisition to tracking and engagement. Via the platform they can access and acquire a wide range of audit-ready company risk as well as emission data and support their suppliers in their decarbonization journey.

Start with a free basic account for the Climate Intelligence Platform

You can now start your own supplier management process by registering for free on the Climate Intelligence Platform. Within the free basic account you can invite an unlimited number of your suppliers in a quick and automated way to become part of your transformation journey and work together with you on climate actions.

Here you can register within 5 minutes and try out the platform without obligation.

IT Sustainability is a fundamental part of the Allianz business model

As Global Head of IT Sustainability at Allianz Technology, Rainer Karcher’s role is to drive the decarbonization of the IT operations of the Allianz Group, one of the leading integrated financial services providers worldwide. He is further responsible for the integration of Sustainability according to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into all parts of Allianz. 

Rainer will speak at a fireside chat at the CLIMATE TRANSFORMATION Summit 2023. Today we are happy to meet with him to discuss together the urgency of climate action, and the role of digitalization in the successful implementation of climate targets. Don’t forget to book your Summit ticket to meet Rainer at #CTS2023 in May!

What does IT Sustainability mean for Allianz Technology and for Allianz overall? What role does digitalization play in the successful implementation of climate targets?

IT Sustainability is crucial for the business model of Allianz. We are a digital company – our products and services are mainly digital; we do not have factories or production sites. Therefore, the digital part represents about 30% of Allianz’s greenhouse gas emissions. With the increase of digitalization, this percentage can easily go upwards.

When speaking about the role of digitalization in achieving climate targets, there are two aspects: it can be part of the problem, if we don’t act responsibly, but there is also a huge opportunity that it is part of the solution. The more we get digitalized, the more we can get automated, creating an efficient digital world and reducing energy consumption.

You speak about decreasing the organization’s footprint, while increasing its handprint and ensuring a heartprint. What are the concrete steps taken to support this approach?

Allianz is a large corporation, with operations in more than 70 countries. So, the chances that there are redundant applications, software or services are quite high. All our entities act independently, and this is why our main goal is become more efficient together. Transparency is where we need to start: We must know exactly which energy is being consumed, where and why, and also understand what we can to do to make things better.

We can gain this transparency once we have a fully automated treatment of data, and with the help of AI solutions we will understand how we can create more synergies and become more energy efficient. 

Another principle we apply is ‘following the sun’. We are trying to place the IT systems in a way that there is always renewable electricity available. At the moment, a lot of IT processes are handled at night, and the problem with that is that, if there is no wind blowing or sun shining, you don’t have renewable electricity. So, we are reconsidering all this in order to always allow possibility to have climate neutral solutions.

What are your goals with this strategy and when will you call it a success?

We do have two main targets: to achieve net-zero operations by 2030 and to reduce energy consumption from IT and communications by 2025 by 20% compared to the pre-COVID values, in 2019.

As long as digitalization increases energy consumption, we can only achieve our targets by a good understanding of how to handle data more efficiently and responsibly.

How do you deal with your supply chain and the emissions generated here?

In procurement, we are facing the challenge of having around 90% of the emissions coming from external third-party partners. This challenge can only be tackled in a close collaboration with our partners. And this is why I think that for Allianz Group the SDG number 17 – Partnership for the goals – is key.

This means we are trying to work together instead of working against each other: there shouldn’t be an approach where we say, “we are the customer, you are the service provider”, but instead we need to find our joint path in a collaborative way. And I have to say, so far this approach works pretty well.

Additionally, we have considered a measurable comparison of the environmental impact for our partners. For example, when it comes to tenders, we now have KPIs in place for measuring the environmental impact of the potential partners by asking them to answer to a certain set of questions, including social and human rights aspects, and evaluating them on a scale from 0 to 10. This indicator is now being considered the same way we used to look at the prices, offering us the chance to choose partners with a similar set of values.

What message would you like to share with the participants of the upcoming CLIMATE TRANSFORMATION Summit 2023?

I think the biggest misunderstanding in sustainability is that there is an expert out there that will come and save us all. The truth is what we need is multiple expertise as well as collaboration. So, gathering all existing expertise around one virtual table makes the event so interesting for me. I’m very much looking forward to some new inspiring information and, of course, to also share my own experience and have an open exchange.

Thank you Rainer for the inspiring interview!

Don’t miss out on his fireside chat at #CTS2023, and secure your ticket here!

Let’s Make Transformation Happen!

How to Qualify, Assess and Develop Suppliers for Scope 3 Decarbonization

To truly achieve corporate climate targets, companies must activate and engage their suppliers, who can account for up to 90% of emissions (Scope 3). The first step is to clearly define the supplier structure and to pre-qualify suppliers for decarbonization on the basis of climate-relevant data. Suppliers must then be assessed and their climate strategy developed and supported accordingly. What is the best way to make this happen?

That’s what we learned at the CHOICE Event #54 from Maximilian Droste from amc Group and Yasha Tarani from The Climate Choice. Here you will find the most important insights from their joint presentation.

Why focus on Scope 3 Decarbonization?

More and more global enterprises are facing various risks and pressure from stakeholders to meet their climate targets today. The de facto standard, the Science Based Targets initiative, requires companies for which emissions from their supply chain (Scope 3) account for more than 40% of their total climate impact to set specific Scope 3 targets. Since Scope 3 emissions are on average 11.4 times higher than direct emissions, this applies to almost every company.

To start measuring and reducing these Scope 3 emissions, companies need to receive product related information from their suppliers. These include product carbon footprint information or lifecycle assessment data in order to compare products and services with each other. The big issue is that most of the suppliers are not ready yet to provide this information.

Without climate relevant data from their suppliers, companies cannot fully understand their climate risks and what measures they need to implement in order to achieve their climate targets. This is where the big challenge for decarbonizing the supply chain lies.

Calculating Emissions from Purchased Goods & Services

So how does calculating emissions from your suppliers actually work? An overview from the Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol shows that there are different data types used for different calculation methods. Most companies find themselves today still at the bottom with the main use of average data. However, the goal is to arrive at the supplier-specific method and collect as much supplier-specific data as possible. Only then can companies make truly informed buying decisions for decarbonization.

A new study by the Science Based Targets initiative shows that only 6% of companies with science-based climate targets are currently working with specific data from suppliers. This is due to various challenges when approaching their supplier base for climate data. In summary, these are:

• Various levels of understanding
• Lack of access to accurate CO2 data
• Lack of climate management knowledge & capacity
• Lack of collaborative tools & best practices
• Lack of comparables & benchmarks
• Different business sizes & a wide geographic distribution

Process is key for supply chain decarbonization 

In order to overcome all of these challenges, companies must first and foremost ensure that sustainability and compliance are not only written down in declarations and codes of conduct, but that they are anchored in procurement and supply chain processes. Let’s have a look at how such a process can be structured. The process map shown as an example below has three different levels. At the top are strategic processes such as category management and long-term strategic development. They build the guardrails of action for an organization. Once the standards for strategic processes are set, it becomes easier at the tactical and the operational level to actually deploy them. 

The most crucial process for decarbonization within the strategic level is the supplier relationship management. This is what we will now take a closer look at.

Supplier Management practices guide the process

The supplier management process has the intent of building long-term relationships and ensuring supplier quality based on objective assessments. Companies achieve this by first analyzing their supplier pool and defining relevant suppliers for further supplier management steps. They then evaluate the relevant suppliers by their performance in the past as well as their future potential. Lastly, a strategy of developing the suppliers based on their assessment results has to be defined and implemented.

Let’s go into more detail and look at the exact steps for the specific purpose of working with suppliers on climate targets.

1. Gain understanding of supplier structure.

Supply chains are complex structures that can often consist of multiple thousands of vendors. That’s why the first step is to create transparency and understand who is part of the supply chain. This requires accurate supplier screening in, as exemplified by the Climate Intelligence Platform. Different levels are needed in order to clearly define what the results of the screening mean.

2. (Pre-) Qualify suppliers for decarbonization based on climate maturity.

Once companies have established this visibility, they must define criteria to be part of the supplier structure. For example, this could mean that suppliers should be able to provide corporate as well as product carbon footprint information and have already set their own climate targets. The standardized qualification is the basis for increasing the quality of the supplier pool incl. approval process (barrier to entry).

3. Evaluate suppliers with performance scoring.

When evaluating the suppliers, it is important to gain insight into their holistic climate transformation. After all, individual findings such as CO2 data or top-down analyses of financial flows are far from sufficient here. The Climate Intelligence Platform therefore conducts an assessment in five dimensions: Governance, Strategy, Transparency, Metrics & Targets, and Decarbonization Measures.

4. Classification of suppliers to derive decarbonization strategy.

As a result of the evaluation, companies can now classify their suppliers into high performers and low performers. An overview of supplier ratings and score distribution, as shown in the Climate Intelligence Platform, helps to develop a strategy on how to increase their performance over time. Through the classification, every supplier receives the individual support that they actually need.

5. Derive strategy & development plan for supplier base.

Following the previous steps, the ultimate goal is to translate the established criteria and strategy into a concrete implementation plan. An example from the Scandinavian telecommunications group Telia shows what this can look like.

Automated data collection & collaboration with suppliers

As already shown in the examples, the Climate Intelligence Platform provides a way to efficiently automate the various steps of the supplier relationship management process for Scope 3 decarbonization. Companies receive everything they need to set up, test, manage and achieve your supplier climate engagement targets – from data acquisition to tracking and engagement. Via the platform they can access and acquire a wide range of audit-ready company risk as well as emission data and support their suppliers in their decarbonization journey.

Start with a free basic account for the Climate Intelligence Platform

You can now start your own supplier management process by registering for free on the Climate Intelligence Platform. Within the free basic account you can invite an unlimited number of your suppliers in a quick and automated way to become part of your transformation journey and work together with you on climate actions.

Here you can register within 5 minutes and try out the platform without obligation.

How Coca Cola Engages Suppliers for Science Based Targets

The Science Based Targets (SBTs) initiative helps companies set climate targets that are consistent with the latest climate science. A particular focus of SBTs is on supplier engagement, as 90% or more of companies’ emissions occur in their supply chains. Corporations have to work closely with their suppliers to set and achieve their SBTs. How does a major global company still on the path of climate transformation, like Coca Cola, deal with this challenge?

That’s what we learned at the CHOICE Event #53 from Cornelia Folz, Vice President Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability (PACS) at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Germany. Here you will find the most important insights from her presentation.

What are the Science Based Targets?

The Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) was founded in 2015 in the year of the Paris Climate Agreement by four NGOs – CDP, WWF, UN Global Compact and World Resources Institute. The initiative is considered a leader in both guiding science-based climate target setting and validating it. It defines and promotes best practice in emissions reduction and net-zero targets in line with climate science. Teams of experts provide companies with independent assessment and validation of targets.

The change has already begun and action is gaining pace. Over 2,000 organizations worldwide are leading the transition to a net-zero economy by setting reduction targets grounded in climate science.

Coca Cola’s commitment to Science Based Targets

Together with the Science Based Targets initiative, Coca Cola Europacific Partners has set an ambition to reach net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2040. Over the last decade, the company has already reduced GHG emissions across its entire value chain by 30.5%. Coca Cola now concentrates on reducing its value chain emissions even further, with a focus on scope 3 emissions where the biggest impacts occur. In all of this, Coca Cola is committed to an approach that prioritizes reducing greenhouse gas emissions wherever possible.

Key focus: mobilizing suppliers on climate change

In order to reach this target, Coca Cola puts a key focus on mobilizing its suppliers on climate change. Over 90% of the organizations GHG emissions are scope 3 emissions. Those scope 3 emissions include raw ingredients (25%), packaging (43%), operations and commercial sites (7%), transport (9%) as well as cold drinks equipment (16%). 

So to really achieve the net zero ambition, Coca Cola has to work closer with its suppliers and support them in their decarbonization journey. To do so, the company has decided to start very easy with three clear and direct questions they are asking their suppliers:  

1. Can you set your own SBTi-validated GHG emissions reduction targets by 2023?
2. Can you commit to using 100% renewable electricity across your operations by 2023?
3. Please share your carbon footprint data with us.

Supplier Carbon Reduction Program

These three questions form the basis for activation and close cooperation with suppliers. Once the ambitions, plans as well as the existing know-how regarding the setting of science-based targets, the transition to 100% renewable energy and the sharing of carbon data from suppliers are clear and known, the real work can begin. From this, Coca Cola has launched a program to motivate and support suppliers with knowledge and resources.

Together with the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and the Science Based Targets initiative, Coca Cola has created specific training programs for their suppliers. Suppliers that are just starting their climate transformation can join these programs, receive guidance, and learn how and with what best practices to set science-based targets. They also learn about different emission factors and approaches to identify carbon hotspots, start reduction measures and track real progress.

Practical example: The Transport Tender

So how does this all impact the day to day work? Let’s have a look at the example of the transport tender that Coca Cola is sending to out logistics companies. It includes a clear message to suppliers that sustainability is one of the 3 key objectives of the tender. Via a bidsheet, suppliers can then offer prices for green solutions (rail, waterways, gas, biofuels, electric). This allows Coca Cola to transparently learn about and compare the extra costs of decarbonization measures with actual GHG savings. 

On this basis, Coca Cola can discuss together with the suppliers on possible short and mid-term solutions. The decision making process is supported by formal calculations to weight tCO2e reduction vs oncost. Here, different alternative scenarios are created, which include the highest tCO2e reduction scenario, the cheapest scenario, and so on. 

Conclusion: From easy to complex

The Transport Tender example shows how a simple question at the beginning evolves into more specific details and an ever finer process of collaboration and shared decision making as it progresses. This is exactly how every company should approach the process of decarbonizing its own supply chain. Because one thing is clear: the task is big and complex and can seem overwhelming at first. However, we are all still at the beginning of climate transformation and need to learn together step by step.

Start with a free basic account for the Climate Intelligence Platform

So it’s a matter of approaching suppliers with simple questions and thus taking the first step. You too can easily implement exactly this simple start today. Register for free on the Climate Intelligence Platform to assess your climate maturity and engage suppliers to do the same. Within the free basic account you can invite an unlimited number of your suppliers in a quick and automated way to become part of your transformation journey and work together with you on climate actions.

Here you can register within 5 minutes and try out the platform without obligation.

THE CLIMATE CHOICE says thank you for a special 2022!

What a year for climate champions! We all faced major new challenges in 2022 – especially companies that were particularly hard hit by the energy crisis and supply chain bottlenecks. Despite everything, you, the CLIMATE community, have continued to work with us to drive the transformation to a low-carbon economy. There have been many positive highlights and developments for which we at THE CLIMATE CHOICE want to say thank you. Let’s take a look at how 2022 allowed us to boost climate transformation all around the globe!

Kicking off the year with strong, new partners

Our year began with a firework of climate action. We were able to start working with many new major and influential customers for the Climate Intelligence Platform, including, as two special highlights, the corporate projects with the mobile phone provider o2 Telefónica and the baby food manufacturer HiPP. We kicked off inspiring collaborations to elevate the transparency of emissions along their supply chains by using our platform.

HiPP was able to successfully identify climate-related risks and potentials of five suppliers with the help of our software tool. HiPP’s Head of Sustainability Management Dr. Johannes Knubben reflects: “The software tool from THE CLIMATE CHOICE enables us to implement a scalable and reliable process to increase the climate-relevant transparency of our supply chain.”

Our next goal is to extend the software-driven climate data collection initially to other partners and ultimately to HiPP’s supply chain. Through an integration of THE CLIMATE CHOICE software tool into HiPP’s sustainability and procurement strategy, the full potential of climate-relevant supplier management is to be exploited.

Our corporate project with o2 Telefónica also successfully identified climate-related risks and potentials of the selected suppliers. The company is now able to develop a transparent, scalable process for collecting comparable data on the climate maturity of suppliers.

In the next step, we will integrate our platform into the procurement dashboard of o2 Telefónica. The climate-relevant data collection for the decarbonization of Scope 3 will be extended to around 1,000 suppliers.

CLIMATE TRANSFORMATION Summit 2022

The climate action kept on flowing and reached a new peak at our #CTS2022. For the third year in a row, we brought together international climate leaders and procurement experts for our two-day 100% online Climate Transformation Summit. 

We welcomed 64 speakers, who interacted with over 1,000 attendees from 59 different countries. Attendees had the chance to participate in 12 limited workshops together with our Partners from B.A.U.M. e.V., First Climate, BearingPoint, AXA Climate School, Enviria, Fairantwortung gAG, Katjes Fassin GmbH & Co. KG, Regionique, IBM, Make-IT Alliance, Telefónica Germany, EcoVadis, Alice Schmidt, ESG Portfolio Management,  Sustainable Procurement Pledge Germany, Development and Climate Alliance Foundation and WWF Germany. THE CLIMATE CHOICE says thank you!

More good news: We just announced the date for #CTS2023! We cannot wait to welcome you on May 11 & 12 2023 for two days full of climate action! Our focus this year: Making it happen – the decarbonization of supply chains! Together with you and leading experts, we will find out how we can impement CO₂ reduction along the value chain.

You can’t wait to secure your spot?
Get your Super Early-Bird ticket now!

You want to be a speaker, workshop host or partner? 
Let’s get in touch.

Launching CLIMATE Readiness Check

The most important insight we gained from the discussions at the #CTS2022 was that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular still find it very difficult to get a quick start in climate transformation because they often do not have sufficient know-how and/or resources. In response to this challenge, we worked over the summer on a new solution offering.

The result: In October, we launched our digital and freely available Climate Readiness Check in partnership with 10 leading sustainability organizations. Among those B.A.U.M. e.V., Bundesverband Nachhaltige Wirtschaft e.V. (BNW), Stiftung Allianz für Klima und Entwicklung, Jaro Institut für Nachhaltigkeit und Digitalisierung e.V., and the Deutscher Mittelstands-Bund (DMB).

The Climate Readiness Check offers SMEs an easy entry point into their climate transformation: through knowledge and insights into their own climate maturity, benchmarks, suggestions for improvement, and access to a B2B climate data platform.

Our Launch was a full success! We are beyond happy to see so many companies kicking off their climate transformation with our Climate Readiness Check! We can’t wait to see who will join us in 2023!

You too can conduct the Climate Readiness Check for your company now and get free access to our platform!

Kickstarter Program 2022

In addition to the projects we developed ourselves, this year we were also part of pioneering external initiatives. Among them, one highlight: In August, we were selected from more than 2.000 applicants for the Climate Lab and Kickstart Innovation scale-up program in the finance and insurance track! Kickstart is one of the largest European Innovation Platforms. Each year they chose a select number of the best international startups to participate in a 10-week program.

We were honored to work in the program with corporates – such as Swisscom, Credit Suisse, AXA, Sanitas, Post Finance, La Mobilière, Coop, CSS, SATW – from the DACH region, who strive to reduce climate risks and emissions in value chains.

Thanks for the EU ‘Best Digital Solution’ Award

The cherry on top of 2022 was winning the “Best Digital Solution” award from the European Commission. The award recognizes the development of our software platform for the collection of climate-relevant data from suppliers and attributes it great impact potential for the greening and digitalization of European industry.

On behalf of the European Commission’s DG GROW, Deputy Director General Hubert Gambs emphasized: “Digital solutions are not only useful to be competitive and provide better value to European customers. They are also key to making our economy greener and European businesses more resilient to future shocks.”

We are so grateful and can’t wait to enable more businesses in boosting their climate transformation!

Many, many thanks for driving our Mission together!

Our mission at THE CLIMATE CHOICE is transforming every company into a climate champion and enabling businesses to make procurement decisions that are aligned with the 1.5-degree-goal! We have summarized our mission for you in this short video.

We are very grateful to work with inspiring companies – and that media is increasingly sharing our mission. THE CLIMATE CHOICE says thank you Süddeutsche Zeitung, t3n, Berliner Morgenpost, Gründerszene and many more, for featuring our platform and allowing us to gain more visibility on our mission! 

Our Wrap up, 2022!

Let’s wrap it up before we go back to wrapping presents. 2022 was a complicated year for the world. We learned that the energy transition is a major driver for the overall climate transformation. We literally saw that it is interlinked with peace and has a positive impact on people, planet and profit. At the THE CLIMATE CHOICE we are therefore honoured that we were able to work on one piece of the puzzle – bringing us towards a regenerative future. These are our 5 highlights:

1. Started working with major new customers, including HiPP and o2 Telefónica
2. Held our 3rd 100 % digital CLIMATE TRANSFORMATION Summit with 64 speakers and 1.000 participants from 59 countries 
3. Launched our new Climate Readiness Check, accessible for companies of all sizes for free to kick off their climate transformation
4. Won the EU ‘Best Digital Solution’ award of the Get Digital Initiative from the European Commission and the European DIGITAL SME Alliance
5. Süddeutsche Zeitung, Gründerszene, t3n, Berliner Morgenpost, Beschaffung aktuell and many more shared our work

Our biggest ‘THANK YOU’ goes to you, Climate Champion! If you are reading this, you are dedicating your valuable time to make this climate transformation a positive one. Whether you are Sustainability Manager, Procurement Expert, or Tech Champion: You are on a mission to strive together with us for an economy that allows the world to stay below 1.5 degree. Let’s start the new year with the same energy and even more climate action. Cheers to 2023!

Your #TeamClimate

THE CLIMATE CHOICE

This year’s workshops at #CTS2022 – Take action and be part of change! 

The preparations are full on – the CLIMATE TRANSFORMATION Summit 2022 is just around the corner! Just 5 weeks to go until Climate Experts, Entrepreneurs and Decision-Makers get connected to discuss and share Best-Practices on decarbonizing the supply chain. Are you in? Get to know more about the program and exclusive workshops at climatesummit.de below.

Climate Targets and Decarbonization – Why is it relevant today? 

The topic of supply chain decarbonization is more relevant this decade than ever before. Many companies have already set climate targets and aim to build a climate-compatible supply chain. Not only because most of them understand that including a climate strategy into their core company goals is relevant today more than ever, but also because political decisions drive companies towards the disclosure of climate relevant information. 

For example, the European Union is about to tighten controls on supply chains and demands companies to review their entire supply chain instead of merely their direct suppliers. According to the EU’s draft for the supply chain act, companies with 500 employees and 150 million Euro annual revenue are required to disclose relevant information regarding social and environmental standards along the supply chain. Corporates now face the challenge of preparing for this law. However, most of the companies still lack the knowledge and resources to make climate relevant decisions and create transparency around the value chain in order to identify the important savings potential. 

The value chain is the biggest lever for a successful Climate Transformation – up to 90% of the emissions are generated along the supply chain. So let’s take this challenge and transform it into an opportunity! Here is how the climatesummit.de will help you achieve this.

Why you should take part in #CTS2022

In order to effectively reduce CO₂, the first step is to calculate Scope 1-3 emissions. Generating climate-relevant data along the supply chain is the foundation to get an overview over the suppliers climate performances. Doesn’t sound feasible yet?

Together with Climate Experts and Change-Makers, we will explore the questions around climate-relevant data and how it’s being used for managing climate-related risks and opportunities along the supply chain. Data experts will share their experiences and success stories and show how climate data enables a holistic supply chain decarbonization and drives a strong Climate Transformation in businesses. In keynotes, panels and fireside chats, Climate Pioneers such as Project Drawdown, WWF Germany and B.A.U.M. e.V. will give insights on how to implement Climate Transformation internationally and based on most recent scientific findings share Best-Practices for decarbonization.

Also, Climate Transformation isn’t something to do on your own. That’s why connecting a strong CLIMATE Community and building networks is also one of the main goals of the Summit. At our online fair, you will get to know innovative climate solutions – such as myclimate, windCORE, BearingPoint, greenmiles and exxeta. Learn how these suppliers of climate-friendly B2B products or services can help your company reduce CO₂ and build a climate-relevant supply chain.

Interactive workshops with CLIMATE Pioneers

And that’s not all! We also want to hear what you have to say! Take part in this year’s interactive workshops and share your experiences and expertise as well as raise your questions around the topic of decarbonization. From workshops about climate-relevant procurement and supplier management to creating solutions on how to reach the 1.5 degree goal in a climate simulation game – Here’s something for everyone!

Which specific topics await you? Find out more about the workshops below. Here are some of the topics that will be tackled in the workshops this year – more details will soon be published on the climatesummit.de.

Employee engagement

Have you ever wondered how to train employees on climate and sustainable transformation? AXA Climate enables companies to upskill and engage all employees to succeed in the sustainable transition and already trains more than 3 million subscribers. Join the workshop in order to learn more about driving Climate Transformation together with your employees.

Global Climate Action – Simulation Game

Ready to take action? In this interactive workshop with Alice Schmidt, we are going to simulate global climate action and together create a scenario in which global warming stays below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Together, we will establish high-impact actions and discuss how energy efficiency, renewable energy investment or carbon pricing affects temperature rise.

Climate-compatible Procurement

In workshops with Sustainable Procurement Pledge Germany and BearingPoint, we will tackle the most relevant questions about sustainable procurement. We will explore how procurement can engage suppliers in the race to Net-Zero emissions by 2050, the pros and cons of doing so, and how to make it happen. Learn how to increase supplier engagement and enable your relevant suppliers to reach climate targets.

Data-driven CLIMATE Rating

It’s all about data – In the workshop by Telefónica and The Climate Choice, we will discuss the relevance of climate-related ESG data and how it enables companies to make sustainable sourcing decisions. Learn how to collaborate with suppliers in order to successfully decarbonize your supply chain by using data-driven Climate Analysis Tools.

Transparency and ESG-Reporting

Reporting standards and disclosure needs are providing new risks and chances. What are companies expected to deliver? In this workshop with Christoph Klein, companies’ executives understand the perspective and requirements of a manager of article 9 funds. Join the discussion and learn how to tackle the challenges of companies to comply with new reporting standards.

Join #CTS2022 – be part of Climate Transformation

As you can see, the #CTS2022 will be full of different insights, learnings and opportunities to challenge your company with new CO₂-reduction strategies and Best-Practices for Climate Transformation! Not only in the „Climate Bubble“ but among the wider economic sphere, we need to raise awareness and make climate solutions easily accessible for every business – cause that’s how real change happens. The climatesummit.de invites all Decision-Makers, Climate Officers, Green-Tech Entrepreneurs, Freelancers, Researchers and interested parties to join the CLIMATE Community and enable a long-lasting Climate Transformation!

We are happy to have you joining! Get your ticket here!

Featured Images: Unsplash

Why should I attend the #CTS2022?

Hello again and welcome to the second blog entry on this year’s CLIMATE TRANSFORMATION Summit, here is Chiara, the Event Project Manager of the Summit. In case you missed the first blog post and do not want to leave anything behind, I suggest you read here before proceeding.

SO FAR SO GOOD

Three weeks have passed since we last spoke and SO MUCH has happened! Everyday we have had super interesting calls with potential speakers, exhibitors, workshop hosts and media partners and I can assure you that the #CTS2022 will be a great learning and networking experience!

You don’t have a ticket yet? Register here and enjoy the Early Bird Discount, only available for a limited amount of time! 

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO TALK ABOUT?

That’s a very good question and the answer is: Climate Data & Supply Chain Transformation. These two will respectively be the focus points of the 2 days of the Summit, happening on the 2^nd & 3^rd June 2022.

The Supply Chain is where the majority of corporate CO₂ emissions stem from, and is also the most difficult aspect to tackle, as it is (mostly) out of one’s control. However, at the #CTS2022 we want to show how Climate Data and Procurement are intrinsically related and how the only way to REALLY change things is to take responsibility beyond the borders of your company.

A HOT TOPIC YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS

The Decarbonisation of the Supply Chain is a highly debated topic and we read it more and more often on the news. The European Commission has recently adopted a proposal for a Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence, which aims to foster sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour throughout global value chains. This means that soon corporations will need to identify and if necessary, prevent, end or mitigate adverse impacts of their activities on human rights and on the environment. This is easier said than done, and it will be the main focus of the #CTS2022!

DOES ONLINE MEAN BORING?

Of course not! Even if the CLIMATE TRANSFORMATION Summit is 100% online, it is also 100% live! This means that all attendees will have the opportunity to connect and chat with the people present, to exchange contact information and interact with one another. We want to offer you a great experience and will make sure to deliver it to you!

#StayTuned to find out the technical details for the #CTS2022, coming up soon!

WHAT’S ON THE AGENDA? ONE PANEL AT A TIME

I guess you are all dying to know more about the agenda of the Summit and I’m here to tell you exactly this.

1. KEYNOTE

Each day we will start with a Keynote Speech, where Sustainability Experts and Practitioners will give impactful insights linked to the Decarbonisation of the Supply Chains. Why? It’s always good to hear from the experts their viewpoints and it’s a good way to get you started on the summit.

2. FIRST PANEL

How can companies and corporates improve their sustainability performance, if they don’t know where they’re standing? To have clear and reliable climate data it’s equally important and hard for companies, and this will be the starting point of discussion during the First Main Panel. I bet you cannot wait to hear what will come out of this Panel – neither can I!

3. WORKSHOPS

After having “passively” heard our Speakers, it’s time to get into action and participate in one of the selected Workshops! We will have around 5 Workshops happening simultaneously and attendees will register in advance to their most preferred ones (one for each day). This is the time where attendees can actively contribute and participate in what our Workshop hosts prepared for them – details on the workshops will soon be published on the ClimateSummit.de!

4. ONLINE FAIR

And then what’s next? After the workshops it’s time to visit our amazing CLIMATE Online Fair! Start-ups and Innovators, providing B2B climate solutions will welcome you at their virtual Exhibitor Booth, where they will present you their services and products. So you will have the chance to get your personal deep dive into climate transformation. You certainly don’t want to miss what is out there. You aim to become an exhibitor yourself, you can still apply to become one here.

5. FIRESIDE CHAT

Last but not least, the afternoon will be all about the interactive Fireside Chats, where three speakers at a time will exchange ideas and experiences on the chosen topic. Additionally, the moderators of the panel discussions will ask questions coming from the audience via the live chat.

The program is truly exciting and interactive, the line up of the Speakers is very promising – anything that is still missing is you! Check out the agenda here and get ready to join!

I hope this gave you an overview of what the Summit will all be about, but the only way to truly be part of the climate transformation is by attending it! We are looking forward to meeting you in June. 

Get your ticket now and join the CLIMATE Community!

Any question remained? Please feel free to write to me, I am happy to help.

Chiara

Carbon Credits – current Trends and Best Practices for Companies

Companies are increasingly being held accountable to ensure a climate-compatible future. In order to compensate for their unavoidable remaining emissions, carbon credits are a popular ingredient of climate strategies. But what effects do carbon credits actually have on the climate transformation, and how can companies use them properly and ensure their offsetting approach is credible? In the CHOICE Event #30, Adele Marie Grundmann and Julia Hunziker from South Pole explained the basics of building a successful carbon portfolio and explained current trends in the offset market. In the following, you can find the most important key takeways.

Best Practice in Corporate Climate Action

Although the global community has just recently agreed on new plans and pledges for climate protection at COP26 in Glasgow, these government pledges are currently not enough to keep us within +1.5 degrees warming. Therefore, it is key for the private sector to act, and more and more companies are taking their responsibility seriously and setting themselves climate targets. 

However, companies are committing to different climate actions, and it is important to understand exactly what each of these means. The three targets of companies are:

Climate Neutral – Reducing and compensating the company’s GHG emissions with any type of certified carbon credits resulting in no net increase of global GHG emission in the atmosphere. 

Net Zero – Reducing emissions in line with science to as close to zero as possible while ramping up carbon removal to balance out any remaining emissions. These solutions can be natural and technical (WRI, 2020). 

Climate Positive – Doing more than becoming climate neutral and net zero, meaning removing more emissions than the company is generating.

Companies can gradually achieve each of these goals as follows. 

1. First, they should measure their own Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and provide a detailed overview of their holistic corporate climate performance.
2. Based on this, companies can develop and implement effective measures to reduce their own carbon footprint. These reduction measures should always be the number one priority in their climate strategy. 
3. By investing in carbon avoidance projects, companies can afterwards compensate for their unavoidable remaining emissions and become climate neutral. 
4. Over time, the residual emissions that could not be reduced are neutralized with carbon removal credits. If all residual emissions are addressed, the company has reached net-zero.

Carbon Credits 101

To understand exactly how carbon credits can help achieve these goals, let’s take a look at the basics and define what a carbon credit actually is: A carbon credit is a tradeable certificate that represents the avoidance or removal of one tonne of carbon dioxide emissions resulting from a specific project activity. One carbon credit is equal to 1 tonne of CO₂ being reduced or removed from the atmosphere.

In order to acquire carbon credits, an organisation invests in a project which is aligned with its values. That project generates a carbon certificate which in turn can help the organisation to become climate neutral or reach net-zero. 

These carbon projects must meet certain criteria. One of the most important ones is additionality. This means that the project would not have been established and would not be viable without the income from the carbon credit. Simply put, there is no business case behind the project. Also important is that the projects need to be verified by several third parties.

What to consider when purchasing carbon credits?

When buying a carbon credit, there are several important factors to consider. First: What category falls the project in? There are avoidance projects and removal projects. Avoidance projects avoid or reduce GHG emission in comparison to a baseline scenario. For example you could develop a renewable power generation by a solar power project instead of the “average” power plant technology using fossil fuels. Removal projects on the other hand actually remove CO₂ from the atmosphere and durably store it. These projects can either be technical – e.g. direct air capture and storage – or natural in the form of natural sinks – e.g. planting trees.

Next to the categories, there are also different types of carbon projects. These can for example be subdivided into household projects that reduce the amount of fuel needed for household tasks, innovation in industry that promotes green growth through energy efficiency or clean water projects that reduce fuel needed to boil water for purification.

The next question you want to ask yourself: Is the project certified with an internationally recognized standard? The two most important standards are The Gold Standard and the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). The Gold Standard is endorsed by more than 80 NGOs and has 1400+ certified projects in over 80 countries. Gold Standard certified projects need to fulfill 3 Sustainable Development Goals to assure social co-benefits. The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) is the world’s most widely used voluntary emissions reduction standard. It was developed and is managed by Verra, a registered not-for-profit organization founded in 2005. 

Voluntary Carbon Market Trends

A lot is happening at the moment on the carbon market. Most recently, at COP26 there was a great deal of discussion and ultimately also a decision that transferring carbon credits between countries would still be possible. However, the COP agreement concerning the voluntary carbon markets for organization is purposefully vague, and it will be up to voluntary carbon standards, governments, and market participants to determine whether the voluntary use of carbon credits needs corresponding adjustments.

Beyond the regulatory changes, there is currently a strong increase in demand. Since 2020, the annual retirement of carbon credits has grown 56% with a specifically high demand in nature based avoidance projects. Accordingly, prices have also risen significantly, and this trend will continue in the near future. According to the results of a survey conducted by the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets, the volume and price of carbon offsets transacted is expected to soar in the coming decades, to 3.6 GtCO₂ and US$ 54/tCO₂e by 2050. Other market sizing models suggest the voluntary carbon market could even grow to 7 GtCO₂e per annum. 

What to remember

In summary: In order to reach the targets set under the Paris Agreement (Net Zero), it is vital for organisations to invest in climate action projects. The voluntary carbon market is transparent and helps organisations to really measure their impact today and show their efforts. Nevertheless, in a successful climate transformation, carbon credits must only be treated as a complementary measure. The first priority should be to analyse and understand one’s own climate performance, then to set science-based targets and implement appropriate reduction measures, and finally to achieve climate neutrality with the help of carbon projects. Only with this approach and a holistic climate strategy is your company credible and able to actually reach the net-zero target. 

Your CHOICE EVENT
Would you also like to present your innovation or best practice in climate transformation? Then get in touch with us! Or join the next free CHOICE event and become part of the #TeamClimate community.

Your company wants to drive forwards climate transformation? Get information about the free CLIMATE Readiness Check and take the first steps towards a low-carbon economy!